Mary Robinette Kowal stunned readers with her charming first novel Shades of Milk and Honey, a loving tribute to the works of Jane Austen in a world where magic is an everyday occurrence. This magic comes in the form of glamour, which allows talented users to form practically any illusion they can imagine. Shades debuted to great acclaim and left readers eagerly awaiting its sequel.

Glamour in Glass continues following the lives of beloved main characters Jane and Vincent, with a much deeper vein of drama and intrigue.In the tumultuous months after Napoleon abdicates his throne, Jane and Vincent go to Belgium for their honeymoon. While there, the deposed emperor escapes his exile in Elba, throwing the continent into turmoil. With no easy way back to England, Jane and Vincent’s concerns turn from enjoying their honeymoon…to escaping it.Left with no outward salvation, Jane must persevere over her trying personal circumstances and use her glamour to rescue her husband from prison . . . and hopefully prevent her newly built marriage from getting stranded on the shoals of another country’s war.

Return with us to Kowal’s awesome, Austen-reboot world!

NOTE: If you haven’t read Shades of Milk and Honey, there are spoilers ahead!

Historical With A Twist

Pushy: Last Week, Heather and I reviewed the first book in this series, Shades of Milk and Honey, where we first encountered Ms. Kowal’s world: a rebooted version of the Regency era where illusion is practiced as an art form in the drawing rooms of London and by proper young ladies in country estates. When I finished reading Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass was the very next book I picked up. Slipping back into this world, returning to watch the continuing adventures of Jane and her new husband was a pure pleasure and I adored ever moment I spent with this book.

Heather: Even though it took me a bit to warm up to Shades of Milk and Honey, the last half of the book was full of action and excitement. This really made me excited for Glamour in Glass. But I had another book to read in between these two, and once I cracked open this one, I was so glad that Glamour in Glass started off on an exciting note and galloped all the way to the finish. There was no catching your breath in this one!

Turning the Screw

Pushy: This second book in the series definitely amps up the action, both internal and external. On the smaller scale, Jane and Vincent need to find out how they will work together as a married couple. Both of them have such strong personalities, both of them are so loathe to admit any weakness, that it was interesting to see how they would meld together into a cohesive unit. But by the end of this book, it’s clear that they’re relationship is rock solid and going to be the foundation for a wonderful life together.

On the larger scale, it was fascinating to watch them live through the events of Napoleon’s escape from Elba and his return to power. The tension of the people of Brussels around this time, both those in favor of the emperor’s return and those definitely opposed, was an interesting prism through which to observe the Vincents’ friends and acquaintances in Brussels. Plus I ADORE historical dramas, so all of this was like icing on the cake for me!

Heather: I totally agree, Pushy! I also loved Jane’s struggles with the differences in how ladies behave in London society versus on the continent. While Jane wants to speak more of her mind, she often has to bite her tongue because it’s what she’s been raised to do, and she finds that women’s roles are much different in European society. It’s very clear that Jane’s skill with glamour is very advanced and is increasing quickly, but she is flourishing because she is working with her husband. Their working relationship, while beneficial to both of them, gives Jane an opportunity to not only shine, but to also become an innovator in the glamour arts. While society doesn’t want her to step to the forefront and be in the spotlight since she is a woman, Vincent certainly will not stand by and take the credit for her ideas and inventions.

Twice as Good

Pushy: While I definitely enjoyed Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass was phenomenal! Right from the start the emotional tension is there. I loved watching Jane and Vincent grow as a couple and I loved the history mixed with magic. I could not put this book down!

Heather:Glamour in Glass had me hooked from the first page. The newness of their marriage was so realistic, especially with their dealings with the in-laws and how they were still getting to know each other. I raced through this installment and I cannot wait for the third book!

Bewitched Rating

Bottom Line

Pushy: Action and drama combine into a rollicking tale of magic, history and the endurance of love. *sigh*

Heather: The stakes were high from the beginning, and Mary Robinette Kowal did an excellent job of creating a journey for Jane and Vincent packed with adventure, tension, and emotional turmoil.

Additional Notes

We both loved this book SO MUCH that we want to put it into your hands as well! SO….it’s contest time! Just enter via the widget below! And if we’d love it if you let us know what about this book most intrigues you in the comments below!

Lover of words and authors; absolute fan girl of books! Give me a good story, with characters I can love (and hate) and I’ll follow you anywhere. Sing me a song of worlds I can dream of, and I’ll listen forever.

57 Responses to “Review and Give-Away: Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal”

Nancy K

One of my favorite things about Glamour in Glass was that Jane’s insecurities about herself didn’t disappear when she married Vincent. She has his love and support but he doesn’t magically (ha!) make all her problems go away.

A five-doll historical drama?? That sounds amazing to me! 😉 I don’t read very many historicals but I’ve always wanted to expand my genres from the classic paranormal books that plague my TBR pile, and this sounds like a wonderful way to do it! LOL and the marriage between Jane and Vincent sounds soooo sweet — yay for married couples! <3

Thanks for the review and giveaway! I’m intrigued by the combination of Austen-inspired historical fiction and fantasy. A lot of times, such meldings don’t work out well, but it seems to be working fantastically for this series…

Woo hoo! So glad you guys love this series! I adore it and have been sad it hasn’t gotten as much attention as I feel it deserves on the blogs. So it makes me super excited to your awesome review!Candace recently posted..Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Recommended Reading

Looking at my rating I’m a little surprised that I gave the first one 5 stars and the second one 4. It seems like it should be the other way around. But it’s been awhile so maybe I don’t remember so well.Candace recently posted..Once Upon a Read-a-Thon Recommended Reading

You all intrigued me with the first review and I love that the second book is just as good (if not better). Sometimes that second novel just doesn’t live up to the first. And the cover is quite pretty–I like the bubbles (yes, easily amused).Mary @ Book Swarm recently posted..Speed Date with Dean: MONUMENT 14 by Emmy Laybourne

You drove three hours to meet the author, Greg? Wow–that’s dedication!!! She actually lives locally to Pushy and I, so it would be nice to meet her around here some time.Heather recently posted..In My Mailbox – Pushy In The House

I only WANT to read some Jane Austen just to say I have haha. but then it’s so old and intimidating so I go for the “inspired by” so see what it’s all about. I don’t think I caught the review for the first book I’ll have to check it out it sounds like a great series!

Generally, I’m not a big Jane Austen fan. I periodically watch one of the various movie adaptations with my wife (because she loves those), but I usually shy away from the books. But I was intrigued by the pitch of Shades of Milk and Honey being “Jane Austen + magic”, so I gave it a try.

Mary Robinette Kowal did a great job making use of the different character archetypes that are so common in Jane Austen’s books. I expected things to get boring once you figured out who was the ‘Mr. Darcy’ character and who was the ‘Mr. Wickham’ character, but Mary very successfully kept things quite interesting.

Definitely pick up Glamour in Glass, David. I think you’ll enjoy it. All of the action and adventure is what made the book that much more enjoyable to me. It has been such a long time since I read any of Jane Austen’s books, and I haven’t seen any of the movies so I have no clue which character should be which. That’s probably why Shades of Milk and Honey took me a bit to get into until the action kicked in.Heather recently posted..In My Mailbox – Pushy In The House

A colleague from work recommended this title to me but did not pick it up (yet)… now I’m waiting for this book to get cheap in the secondhand market because my budget can only stretch so much 🙂Cherry Mischievous recently posted..Review: MAGIC DREAMS

The magic of glamour is cool – to be able to create any illusion you want! I love historical fiction and when you add the magic it’s even better! This story sounds great and I would love to win this book!

I can’t really say what intrigues me most because I didn’t read anything that you wrote because I was worried about spoilers! However, the first book sounds very interesting and I wouldn’t have given it a second glance if I hadn’t seen it on your site. I love Jane Austen but am not really a historical fiction person, yet this series sounds really good. Thanks for the review!

Our review wasn’t that spoilerific–it just told you who Jane wound up with at the end of Shades of Milk and Honey, though. Definitely check this series out. I loved them and I’m not usually a historical fiction person either.Heather recently posted..In My Mailbox – Pushy In The House

[…] and I have reviewed and loved both of the previous books, Shades of Milk and Honey and Glamour in Glass. We are total fans of Ms. Kowal’s characters and her world, so this was an instant buy for […]

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